Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NIFA SCRI 010974
The Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) is a grant program run by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) designed to tackle major, industry-wide challenges facing U.S. specialty crops. Its core goal is to fund research and extension work that helps specialty crop producers and supply chains stay resilient and competitive, with projects expected to have national, regional, or multi-state relevance rather than purely local impact. The program is meant to support practical, outcomes-oriented work across the full food and agriculture system, and it explicitly includes both conventional and organic production systems.
To be considered responsive, a proposed project must address at least one of five SCRI focus areas. The first area supports research in plant breeding, genetics, genomics, and related approaches that improve crop characteristics, such as yield, quality, stress tolerance, or other traits important to growers and markets. The second area targets threats from pests and diseases, including issues that affect specialty crop pollinators, reflecting the program’s interest in safeguarding crop health and the ecosystem services that specialty crops rely on. The third area emphasizes long-term improvements in production efficiency as well as handling and processing, with the intent of strengthening productivity and profitability over time; this area can also include work tied to specialty crop policy and marketing, recognizing that economic sustainability often depends on more than on-farm practices alone. The fourth area encourages new innovations and technology, including improved mechanization and methods that delay or inhibit ripening, which can reduce losses, extend market windows, and ease labor constraints. The fifth area focuses on food safety, supporting methods to prevent, detect, monitor, control, and respond to potential hazards that can arise during production and during postharvest handling and processing.
This opportunity is listed as a mandatory grant program under CFDA 10.309. The funding opportunity number is USDA NIFA SCRI 010974. The maximum award size (award ceiling) is $2,000,000. The posted original closing date is 2024-11-08, and the opportunity record shows a creation date of 2024-09-04. The listing also notes “ExpectedAwards: 0,” which typically indicates that the number of awards is not specified in the summary record and may depend on available funds, application volume, and proposal quality.
Eligibility for pre-applications is broad but structured around recognized research, education, and public-interest organizations. Pre-applications may be submitted by Federal agencies, national laboratories, colleges and universities, research institutions and organizations, private organizations (including foundations or corporations), State Agricultural Experiment Stations, Cooperative Extension Services, and also by individuals or groups made up of two or more of these entity types. In practical terms, SCRI is geared toward teams that can combine research and extension capacity and deliver results that matter across multiple states or regions, particularly when addressing shared challenges like pest pressure, postharvest losses, labor and mechanization needs, market constraints, or food safety risks in specialty crop systems.Apply for USDA NIFA SCRI 010974
- The National Institute of Food and Agriculture in the agriculture sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Specialty Crop Research Initiative" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.309.
- This funding opportunity was created on 2024-09-04.
- Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-11-08. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2,000,000.00 in funding.
- Eligible applicants include: Others.
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